This is what it looks like when LGBTQ teens tell their own stories

Young love is difficult for any teen to navigate, from decoding flirty texts to stealing kisses in high school hallways.

For queer youth, however, these universal hesitations and anxieties also come with the stigma of LGBTQ identity. Not only do queer teens have to worry about teachers scolding them for PDA, but they also fear judgment and ridicule from peers who may not accept their sexuality.

A new video powerfully depicts what it's like to be an LGBTQ teen finding new love — and why we need to empower at-risk teens to tell their own stories, and challenge media representation of queer lives.

The new PSA, titled "Love," is in support of Brooklyn-based nonprofit Mythic Bridge, which empowers at-risk youth with filmmaking skills so they can tell their own stories.

The organization provides hands-on, narrative filmmaking education to teens dealing with hardships. Most of the 240 teens that the program has served over the past year are young people of color coming from school districts that have cut arts education from their budgets.

While the "Love" video itself was created by two creative agencies, it offers a glimpse at how the experience can be transformative for these teens.

"I want to help other kids who are at-risk of screwing up their future, and give the something to connect to."

Mythic Bridge cofounders Don Klein and Gage Woodle admit that at first glance, they aren't the first people you'd expect to be invested in at-risk youth. Both are white men that come from fairly stable family backgrounds. But Klein and Woodle were once at-risk youth themselves, living through significant trauma and hardship in their younger years.

Klein was a senior at Columbine High School in 1999 when two of his schoolmates shocked the nation by committing one of the largest mass shootings in U.S. history, killing 13 and injuring 24. Woodle lived with mental illness and substance abuse in his teen years, which led to him being arrested and institutionalized.

The pair met on their first day at an arts college in New York City. The date was Sept. 11, 2001, a day marked by national trauma and tragedy.

"My future was very much 'at-risk' because of my behavior and my actions and my attitude," Woodle tells Mashable. "I want to help other kids who are at-risk of screwing up their future, and give the something to connect to."

Klein and Woodle founded Mythic Bridge in 2010 to inspire young people to tap into their creativity. Through weekend programs and an eight-week long intensive summer workshop, the nonprofit helps 13- to 24-year-olds create short films about their lives and identities.

To date, the Mythic Bridge team has served more than 600 young people.

"They give us a safe space to have a voice."

"We have created a community where everyone feels safe, where everyone feels supported in their creative exploration," Klein tells Mashable. "And they know that if they stick with it, they will get the skills they need to succeed in life."

The "Love" PSA is a continuation of Mythic Bridge's "Change the Script" campaign, which began in July 2016. Klein and Woodle hope it spreads awareness of their nonprofit work.

Mythic Bridge is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to fund its work supporting LGBTQ youth filmmaking. Even though it has always served at-risk youth, dedicated workshops for queer youth have only been part of the organization's programs for the past year.

Mentors work with youth at a filmmaking workshop.

Image: Mythic Bridge

In these workshops, young people work together to create short films covering various aspects of LGBTQ life, including the coming-out experience and the triumph over online harassment. About 40 queer youth have participated in these programs so far, including one filmmaking student named Alexis (who wished to have her last name withheld).

"Mythic Bridge has helped me grow as an artist and as a person," Alexis tells Mashable. "I've learned to be comfortable in my art and my own skin. Programs like Mythic Bridge teach LGBT youth to be comfortable and creative. They give us a safe space to have a voice."

Creating this space of self-celebration and creativity is what Klein and Woodle strive for — especially because the work is so personal to their histories.

"Both Don and I were young people who went through hardship," Woodle says. "We are living examples of how one mentor or one person believing in you, and giving you an opportunity, can totally change the trajectory of your life."

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